


Chit-Chat

by MuseofWriting



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste & Nino Lahiffe - Freeform, Chat Noir/Nino Lahiffe - Freeform, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, More friendship than relationship, Nino Lahiffe Appreciation Zine, Ninoir, but the ninoir is there if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:48:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23569351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuseofWriting/pseuds/MuseofWriting
Summary: Nino's getting used to having a cat visit him at night.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 13
Kudos: 113





	Chit-Chat

**Author's Note:**

> OOPS I JUST NEVER POSTED THIS??? Life caught up with me and I uhhhh apparently completely forgot to actually post this lol.
> 
> This is from a Nino Appreciation Zine I did a while back (my first zine!). It was totally free & it's [still available for download](https://theninozine.tumblr.com/post/187010287908/its-finally-here) so you should definitely go check it out, there's a bunch of really lovely art and stories in it.
> 
> I hardly think this is like, my best work, but it was a fun short & sweet fic to write. Hope you enjoy <3

The nightly visits were becoming habitual.

Nino was carefully not saying anything about it, because, for all that Chat Noir was charming and excitable and playfully flirtatious, there was something skittish buried under it all, and Nino was petrified of spooking him. He’d done it twice already. Hardly a week after the superheroes had first appeared, up late doing homework, Nino had spied Chat sitting on the roof across the street. He’d opened the window to call out to him, but as soon as Chat had seen him, he launched himself away before Nino could blink.

It was months later when Nino had heard a tap on his window for the first time and turned to see a pair of glowing green eyes outside. He’d shrieked loud enough to wake the dead before he realized who it was. Then, thankful his parents were out and his brother at a sleepover, he’d slid the window up to find Chat balancing on his staff, entirely too big a grin on his face for the heart attack he’d nearly given Nino.

“Hey,” Chat said. “Nino, right? You were the Bubbler.” Nino’s cheeks went hot. Not the most flattering way to be remembered.

“That’s me, yeah.” Chat’s grin didn’t waver.

“You like music, right? I remember you DJ’ing that kid’s birthday party.” Nino relaxed slightly.

“Yeah, mec! I have my first real gig lined up next month. Well, I mean, it’s a charity thing through my school, but still.”

“Did you hear about the music festival they’re hosting the Jardin des Tuileries?”

“Yeah, but I couldn’t get tickets,” Nino said miserably. Chat’s grin grew somehow even wider, his eyes luminescent in the dim evening, catching the orange glow of the streetlamps below him. He rocked forward on the staff, leaning in toward Nino.

“Do you want to go?” he asked conspiratorially. Nino gaped.

“Wi– I– How?” Chat laughed.

“We just have to find a high enough perch.”

“And— how come you’re inviting _me_?” Nino asked. Chat shrugged.

“It wouldn’t be as fun without company,” he said. He held out a hand. “So, you coming?” Nino crawled up on his window ledge before he finished the sentence.

“Are you kidding? Let’s _go_.”

It was one of the most surreal evenings Nino had ever had. If it weren’t for how _specifically_ he could remember everything – the rub of Chat’s gloved hand against his own, the cloying smell of alcohol drifting up to them as they balanced on a lighting strut, the ringing in his ears the next day – he would have been convinced he dreamed it. Until Chat showed up again a month later inviting him to a Jagged Stone concert.

It was erratic at first – sometimes he’d turn up three days in a row, and sometimes not for months – but the longer it went on, the more frequent it became, until now, Nino could almost count on him showing up about once a week. They’d expanded beyond music concerts – they went out for late night crêpes, or went to see movies, or stopped at clubs where Nino introduced himself to DJs while Chat took selfies with fans. But a lot of the time now they just— talked. Sometimes Chat would take Nino across the city, someplace like Sacre-Cœur, with a stunning view of Paris sprawling beneath them, but sometimes he simply climbed through the window into Nino’s room with little warning and less ceremony and sprawled himself across Nino’s floor, flipping idly through his textbooks. And they talked. About nothing in particular, most of the time, because Nino was being careful.

It was during one of those talks that Nino had scared him off again. He still wasn’t entirely sure what he’d said – he’d been talking idly about school, complaining about homework while Chat made noises of sympathy and agreement, his eyes skimming over Nino’s hellish chemistry assignment, he’d said something about Marinette and Alya and him planning to go check out this new café place at the end of the week, and Adrien if he could, but they could never count on Adrien being allowed to go—

Chat had sat up, all of a sudden, and left with hardly a goodbye, even though he’d only been there for about twenty minutes. And it wasn’t an akuma, because Nino had checked the news after. He didn’t know what he’d said. Chat hadn’t seemed mad; he’d been back three weeks later, but there had been something so suddenly wary and _sad_ in his eyes when he’d mumbled some incoherent excuse to leave, and it had been so unlike Chat that Nino didn’t even know how to ask him if he was alright. By the time he came back, it seemed too late, and he was too worried about scaring him off again. Because he was getting used to these increasingly habitual night visits, and he didn’t particularly want them to stop.

Chat was lying on his floor at the moment, a novel draped over his face, slipping in and out of dozing, occasionally lifting the book up enough to peer at a few lines. Nino, for his part, had been trying and failing to think about geometry for about an hour now, his eyes drifting constantly to Chat.

He was being careful. He was trying _so hard_ to be careful. But he didn’t think he could be careful forever. He discarded his pencil, pushing the textbook away from him. He rolled his desk chair out next to Chat, lifting the book off his face. Chat squinted up at him.

“Hey, mec, can I ask you something?”

Chat shrugged against the floor. “Shoot.”

“How come—” He hesitated. “Why do you hang out with me?” Chat frowned.

“I like hanging out with you,” he said. “Do you—?”

“No I— like hanging out with you too,” Nino said hastily. “But— you could probably be hanging out with just about anyone in Paris. Why’d you come knock on my window, of all people?” Chat sat up, running a nervous finger unconsciously over his ring.

“It’s… I… Um. I… talked to Adrien Agreste after the… Bubbler thing. And— look, do you know how many people get akumatized for selfish reasons? I mean a lot of the time it’s because someone’s been awful to them, but so many of the akumas are angry because something they wanted or something they were trying to do got spoiled.” He looked down, into the corner. “Adrien told me all you wanted was for him to have a birthday party.”

“His dad’s an asshole,” Nino muttered. Chat’s shoulders tightened.

“There haven’t been a lot of akumas that have just wanted to do something nice for a friend,” he finished. He climbed to his feet. “Look, maybe I should go—”

“Wait,” Nino reached out and caught his wrist. “It’s just— I’m kind of getting used to having you swing by, and I… I wanted to understand why.” Chat paused, eyes still cast out the window, his arm tense in Nino’s grip. After a moment, he shrugged.

“I guess I’m lonely,” he said. “G’night, Nino.” He was gone before Nino got a chance to stop him.

He was fidgety in school the next day, pencil spinning in his fingers, itching for the refuge of his headphones. There was a chaotic logic to music that always managed to hold his attention, the mathematics of chords and intervals an ever-shifting challenge that would help him forget his anxieties about a frustratingly enigmatic cat. Adrien was side-eyeing him, watching him get down less than half the lecture notes with increasing concern. At the end of class, when Nino managed to completely miss the homework assignment, Adrien silently slid his notebook over so Nino could copy it down.

“Everything okay?” he asked as the rest of the class packed up their bags. Nino gave a noncommittal shrug.

“I’m worried I might have screwed something up with a friend,” he said. Adrien blinked in surprise.

“Who?” he asked.

“Oh, uh, no one you know,” Nino said evasively. “Someone from— outside school. It’s just— he’s a really, uh, private person, and I’m not sure if I ever know what he’s thinking, and last— yesterday I think I might’ve made him mad, but I’m not sure, and I don’t…” He trailed off in frustration. Adrien’s forehead furrowed as he slipped his notebook back into his bag.

“Why do you think you made him mad?” Nino shook his head.

“I’m not even sure I _did_ ,” he said. “But he left really abruptly and… I dunno, mec. I really like this guy but I’m not sure why he even hangs out with me.” Adrien smiled and bumped his shoulder.

“It’s not like you to be nervous about this stuff,” he said. “I’m sure he’s not mad. Maybe he’s just… shy.” Nino rubbed his eyes behind his glasses, images of Chat Noir posing for photographs like he was born for the paparazzi flashing behind his eyelids.

“I don’t think he’s shy,” he muttered. Adrien slid out from behind the desk, tossing his bag over his shoulder.

“Nino,” he said. “You’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. You could probably make friends with anyone you wanted to.”

“Between the two of us, you’re the one who somehow manages to stand Chloe,” he replied flatly. Adrien laughed.

“C’mon,” he said. “Let’s grab lunch, I’m starving.”

Nino was afraid Chat might not come back again anytime soon, that he had spooked him again. But there he was at his window again that night, eyes bright, Cheshire grin glowing. Nino let him in with a bigger sigh of relief than he wanted to admit. Chat tumbled through the window so fast he knocked Nino over. He rolled off him, laughing, one of his legs still thrown on top of Nino’s shins. He threw his arms wide against the carpet and sighed contentedly.

“You’re in a good mood tonight,” Nino said, something unintentionally affectionate slipping into his voice as he did. He pushed up onto his elbows, looking down at Chat’s face.

“It’s just… good to see you,” Chat said, smiling at the ceiling. He glanced over at Nino, smile fading slightly. “Hey, sorry if I was weird last night. It’s just—”

“Mec, it’s okay. Secret identity stuff, I get it, you can’t talk about yourself too much.” Chat rolled onto his side, pulling his leg free and sitting up. Nino suddenly missed the contact.

“It’s not— okay, it is that, some of it, but— Look, I—” Chat looked down at his hands. “I don’t have a lot of friends and I don’t— know if I’m very good at it,” he said. “I don’t want to screw this up.” Nino stared at him for a moment, and then burst out laughing. Chat looked startled. “What? What’s funny?”

“That’s what _I’ve_ been doing,” Nino said. He pushed all the way up to sitting. “I’ve been trying so hard to be careful because— I’ve never had a friend who’s a superhero before, how am I supposed to know how this works? I didn’t want to scare you away by asking personal questions, but I want to know you better, and— you’re _Chat Noir_ , how were _you_ going to screw this up?” Chat looked almost offended.

“Nino, you’re the— you’re one of the coolest guys I know. You’re an incredible DJ and you’re so kind and easy to be around and—” He stopped, taking a deep breath. “How were _you_ going to screw this up? I can’t even tell you my real name.” Nino managed a smile.

“I guess we’ve muddled along well enough until now,” he said. Chat absentmindedly drew whorls through Nino’s carpet with one claw.

“I _want_ to tell you who I am,” he said, and Nino felt all the air leave his body for a moment. “But— Well, Ladybug might kill me if I did, but also— she has a point, it’s too dangerous while Hawk Moth is still out there.” The air came rushing back and Nino deflated slightly, somehow both relieved and disappointed. “But, I promise, when it _is_ safe, you’ll be one of the first people to know. Is it okay if we keep… muddling, until then?” Nino smiled.

“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I think I’m alright with that.”

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE leave comments if you enjoyed, it really really really makes my day and motivates me to write more. Even just a couple words make me really happy <3
> 
> Come find me:  
> tumblr: [@thatgirlonstage](https://thatgirlonstage.tumblr.com)  
> twitter: [@MuseofWriting](https://twitter.com/MuseofWriting)


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